Lithic Assemblage Variability Research Articles

The other MSA: non-Aterian lithic assemblages in Algeria, characteristics and attribution

ABSTRACT The Middle Stone Age in northwest Africa is mainly described in terms of two technocomplexes, the Aterian and Mousterian, the definitions of which have evolved as research has progressed. While the Aterian is often characterised by tanged tool assemblages, the Mousterian seems to have been defined by default and other denominations such as Levalloisian, Middle Palaeolithic and Sbaikian have also been used for MSA lithic assemblages without pedunculates. Beyond the legitimate question of the relevance of these classifications, one may wonder whether the available quantitative data allow us to identify the variability of lithic assemblages outside the Aterian technocomplex. In the Algerian context, this question is addressed by analysing data recovered by researchers from archaeological sites qualified as non-Aterian. Information and gaps are discussed and compared with what is known about the same period in northwestern Africa, particularly Morocco.

The Technological Behaviours of Homo antecessor: Core Management and Reduction Intensity at Gran Dolina-TD6.2 (Atapuerca, Spain)

The ability of early hominins to overcome the constraints imposed by the characteristics of raw materials used for stone tool production is a key topic on the discussion about the evolution of hominin cognitive capabilities and technical behaviours. Thus, technological variability has been the centrepiece on this debate. However, the variability of lithic assemblages cannot be correctly interpreted without understanding site occupational models and function and considering that individual tools represent specific discard moments in a continuous reduction process. In Europe, the earliest technological record is represented by the scarce and scattered Mode 1 technologies, often deriving from occasional occupations or restricted activity areas yielding unrepresentative assemblages. In this paper, we approach the technological behaviours exhibited by Lower Palaeolithic hominins from the subunit TD6.2 of the Gran Dolina site (Atapuerca, Burgos) by including the perspective of reduction intensity studies on the analysis of technological variability. Gran Dolina TD6.2 is a unique and extremely significant archaeological context, as it represents the oldest multi-layered unit of domestic hominin occupations in the Early Pleistocene of Europe. We use the Volumetric Reconstruction Method (VRM) to estimate the original volume of the blanks and quantify the reduction intensity of each core individually to characterise the reduction distribution patterns using Weibull probability distribution functions. Our results suggest differential raw material management in terms of reduction intensity, according to the characteristics of each lithology. This could reflect a solid understanding of raw material qualities and a certain degree of planning. Altogether, the continuity between knapping strategies through reduction denotes constant adaptation to raw material constraints as well as particular knapping conditions, rather than specific compartmentalised mental schemes. In conclusion, Homo antecessor toolmakers would have been situational knappers whose technological behaviour would be highly adaptive. This research constitutes the first reduction approach for the European Early Pleistocene assemblages that will lead to a referential framework for other European Early Pleistocene sites.

A new approach to measure reduction intensity on cores and tools on cobbles: the Volumetric Reconstruction Method

Knowing to what extent lithic cores have been reduced through knapping is an important step toward understanding the technological variability of lithic assemblages and disentangling the formation processes of archaeological sites. In addition, it is a good complement to more developed studies of reduction intensity in retouched tools and provides information on raw material management or site occupation dynamics. This paper presents a new methodology for estimating the intensity of reduction in cores and tools on cobbles, the Volumetric Reconstruction Method (VRM). It is based on a correction of the dimensions (length, width, and thickness) of each core from an assemblage. The median values of thickness and platform thickness of the assemblage’s flakes are used as corrections for the cores’ original dimensions, after its diacritic analysis. Then, based on these new dimensions, the volume or mass of the original blank are reconstructed using the ellipsoid volume formula. The accuracy of this method was experimentally tested, reproducing a variety of possible archaeological scenarios. The experimental results demonstrate a high inferential potential of the VRM, both in estimating the original volume or mass of the original blanks and in inferring the individual percentage of reduction for each core. The results of random resampling demonstrate the applicability of VRM to not size-biased archaeological contexts.

Is it Time to Retire NASTIES in Southern Africa? Moving Beyond the Culture-Historical Framework for Middle Stone Age Lithic Assemblage Variability

ABSTRACT The Middle Stone Age (MSA) of southern Africa provides crucial insight on early Homo sapiens behavioral evolution. Archaeologists have traditionally presented lithic assemblage variability as a sequence of discrete Named Stone Tool Industries (“NASTIES”, Shea, 2014, Quaternary International) or techno-complexes. Many have highlighted the issues associated with the archaeological systematics of this time period in southern Africa and beyond, yet the original framework continues to persist. This paper presents two case studies from the Late Pleistocene that further problematize the usefulness of NASTIES. First, the Pinnacle Point complex of sites show that significant landscape-scale variability between coeval lithic assemblages defies the traditional classification system. Second, investigating the relationship between technological and environmental change has led to conflicting results that cannot be resolved when NASTIES are the units of analysis. While lithic data are key for understanding early Homo sapiens behavioral evolution, NASTIES are not the best tools for doing so.

Technological changes and chrono-cultural boundaries: The role of expedient technologies in the upper paleolithic

A cursory glance at the technical behaviors of Paleolithic hunter-gatherers suggests that disparate investment in tool production played a role in the variability of lithic assemblages. Expedient technologies, aimed at minimizing the time and energy invested in lithic production, are particularly common in the Lower and Middle Paleolithic, but their role in the Upper Paleolithic remains largely unexamined. The aim of this paper is to explore the potential role of low-cost technologies at times of cultural change, particularly in the Gravettian-Solutrean boundary. As an example, we will present the lithic assemblage found in level D of Valdavara Cave (north-west Iberia), dated at ca. 27–24 ka cal BP and characterized by a distinct expedient component. Then, we will contextualize Valdavara within the framework of the Cantabrian region to assess whether an increase in expedient behaviors can be recognized in other sites yielding similar dates.

Building models of Neanderthal territories from raw material transports in the Aquitaine Basin (southwestern France)

Abstract The Middle Palaeolithic of southwestern France has long been a testing ground for models of Neanderthal lithic assemblage variability and mobility strategies. Advances in our understanding of the lithological structure of the northern Aquitaine Basin combined with numerous raw material studies allows connections between different areas of the region to be revealed based on the movement of particular ‘tracer’ materials. By comparing technological data with raw material transport patterns elements of Late Neanderthal techno-economic behaviour emerge. Raw materials were transferred over longer distances in both the Levallois and Quina techno-complexes compared to the Discoid techno-complexes, where evidence for similar movements are almost entirely absent. Comparing these patterns of raw material provisioning and transfer against the distribution of key Middle Palaeolithic sites forms the basis of a new model for the territorial organisation of Late Neandertal groups in the Aquitaine Basin to be built.

Late Middle Palaeolithic lithic technocomplexes (MIS 5–3) in the northeastern Aquitaine Basin: Advances and challenges

Establishing and interpreting patterns of lithic assemblage variability is of great interest to archaeologists as they shed light on cultural adaptations in the deep past. Nowhere has this topic provoked more interest and debate than in the Middle Palaeolithic of southwestern France. The region's rich archaeological record has produced numerous sites, many of which have been recently excavated and thus provide a reliable dataset for better structuring Mousterian lithic variability. Researchers working with these types of datasets frequently employ the chaine operatoire concept to approach lithic assemblage variability; however, the validity of such analyses has recently been questioned. Here we present results of a combined quantitative and qualitative technological analysis of a large sample of assemblages from numerous well-contextualised sites in the northeastern Aquitaine Basin. We selected clearly identifiable diagnostic elements typical of different flake production systems that can be quantified by different analysts in a replicable fashion. Our results show strong differences in assemblage composition in terms of dominant production systems as well as a smaller number of mixed assemblages that combine two or more flake production methods. When considered together, these results provide not only a means for defining lithic technocomplexes and subsequently comparing assemblages but also for investigating elements of Neanderthal material culture variability.

Did prehistoric foragers behave in an economically irrational manner? Raw material availability and technological organisation at the early Gravettian site of Willendorf II (Austria)

Willendorf II provides the longest and best-studied MIS 3 sequence in the Middle Danube region, and represents one of the key reference sequences for this time period in Central Europe. The assemblage chosen for analysis derives from archaeological horizon (AH) 5, attributed to the period of the first Gravettian between 30 and 27 ka uncal. BP. Previous analyses were all based on a selected inventory (mainly tools and cores) derived from the 1908/1909 excavations. The discovery of labelled wooden boxes containing numerous additional artefacts from the 1908/1909 excavations at the end of the 1990s in the cellar of the Natural History Museum in Vienna considerably raises the total number of finds for all archaeological horizons, and opens new perspectives for investigating Upper Palaeolithic behavioural variability in the Middle Danube region. For the first time, all artefacts have been assigned to a raw material source area, thus providing a picture of the geographic extent of the foraging territory, and allowing for quantified observations on raw material economy and technological variability in the early Gravettian of the Middle Danube region. Willendorf II provides an excellent basis for the study of Gravettian lithic assemblage variability due to the wide array of local and nonlocal lithic resources available at varying distances from the settlement. Source provenance information and patterns of raw material use offer complementary measures of mobility. We discuss the results in the light of the concepts of “technological provisioning” developed by S.L. Kuhn. Distance to source alone is not suitable to predict and explain raw material frequencies and the character of transported technologies on nonlocal material at Willendorf II-AH5. We argue that other factors such as the degree of anticipation of foreseeable activities and occupation span might account for the observed economic patterns. Our results clearly have broader relevance for understanding assemblage variability in the Gravettian of Central Europe and further afield.

La technologie lithique, de part et d’autre de l’Atlantique

Les controverses entre François Bordes et Lewis Binford sur l’interprétation des différents facies du Moustérien ont été un élément déterminant du développement de la technologie lithique, aussi bien en France qu’aux USA. Dans les deux pays, la variabilité des industries constituait le problème central. Mais, dès l’origine, les voies empruntées ont divergé et trente ou quarante ans plus tard, le fossé n’est pas comblé. Dans la lignée de la «New Archaeology » , la diversité des industries fut appréhendée en Amérique du Nord dans les années 1970-1980 par la recherche de théories explicatives «de rang moyen » , élaborées à partir de référentiels ethnographiques. Celles-ci mettaient en jeu à la fois des contraintes (matières premières, mobilité, etc.) et des notions d’optimisation dérivée de la «Optimal Foraging Theory » . Les facteurs de variabilité alors proposés, souvent appuyés sur des données quantitatives, sont transculturels et le plus souvent liés aux conditions environnementales. Dans les mêmes années, les chercheurs français s’attachaient au contraire à développer des outils analytiques permettant de saisir toute la variabilité des industries, de leur conception à leur production. La distinction entre «technique » et «méthode » , et l’actualisation d’un projet au travers du concept de «chaîne opératoire » , conduisent de façon logique à mettre en exergue «l’intention » de l’artisan et à rechercher ses objectifs techniques, dans une approche fondamentalement qualitative. L’intentionnalité, concernant des groupes et non plus des individus, se retrouve par la suite dans l’élaboration de concepts fondés sur la notion de stratégie : stratégie de débitage, économie des matières premières. C’est là sans doute, au début des années 1990, le premier rendez-vous manqué entre technologie lithique française et nord-américaine. Rejetant le déterminisme écologique primaire des premiers modèles interprétatifs, plusieurs courants nord-américains («Behavioral Chain » , «Design Theory » , «Organization of Technology » ) postulent que les choix techniques sont des compromis entre objectifs et contraintes, rejoignant les approches «cognitives » développées parallèlement en France. Ces courants seront en fait peu suivis, tandis que, dans les mêmes années, plusieurs concepts émergent simultanément de part et d’autre de l’Atlantique : connaissances et savoir-faire, transmission et apprentissage, variabilité individuelle. Mais, là-encore, la rencontre sera éphémère. Les chercheurs français valideront une perspective essentiellement culturaliste en s’appuyant sur la transmission des techniques, tout en donnant un formidable essor aux approches techno-économiques et techno-sociales par l''inscription de la chaîne opératoire de production dans l’espace. Mais ces approches très fructueuses ne se réfèrent pas à une théorie explicite et n’ont pas de nom, pas d’étiquette. Ce qui explique sans doute une des raisons de leur échec dans les pays anglo-saxons. Car celles qui s’y développent, à partir des mêmes notions qu’en France, sont clairement labellisées : la «Behavioral Archaeology » s’appuie sur la transmission intergénérationnelle des connaissances, sur la «behavioral chain » (concept plus large que la chaîne opératoire) et sur la notion de stratégie («design » ). La «Practice Theory and Social Agency » s’appuie, quant à elle, sur des concepts forgés par des sociologues français (Bourdieu, Lemonnier) et sur les données de fouilles françaises (Pincevent, Verberie, Étiolles) pour tenter de démontrer que l’on peut effectivement individualiser des «agents » et leur «agentivité » . Le concept de transmission est également central dans les différents courants récents d’archéologie évolutionniste, qu’il s’agisse de la «Dual Inheritance Theory » fondée sur la théorie Darwinienne, de la «Human Behavioral Ecology » ou du courant «Organization of Technology » . Si ces deux derniers courants sont beaucoup plus proches de la sensibilité et des préoccupations françaises, ils s’en distinguent par le souci de validation des propositions, par des approches quantifiées et par l’importance de la notion d’optimisation. En conclusion, le manque de références théoriques explicites dans les approches françaises apparaît rédhibitoire pour nos collègues anglo-saxons. Mais le manque de dialogue repose plus encore sur les méthodes et les objectifs. Dans les pays anglo-saxons, la recherche de modèles interprétatifs vise toujours, in fine, à faire émerger des régularités transculturelles, appuyées, dans toute la mesure du possible, sur des modèles formalisés, de préférence quantifiés. En France au contraire, où les diagnoses sont plus qualitatives, les recherches ont longtemps eu comme visée essentielle de montrer la singularité de chaque trajectoire (pré) historique, en se défiant de tout déterminisme simple. La dichotomie d’origine entre interprétations fonctionnelles et culturelles, entre approche hypothético-déductive et approche inductive, reste une structure pérenne que sous-tendent, encore aujourd’hui, de véritables traditions scientifiques divergentes.

Secondary Raw Material Sources of Pedernal Chert in the Albuquerque Basin, New Mexico

Prehistoric quarries targeted primary outcrops of Pedernal chert at Cerro Pedernal and San Pedro Peaks in north-central New Mexico. A long-standing tradition of secondary-source Pedernal chert use is also evident throughout the archaeological record of the Albuquerque Basin. Santa Fe Group gravels distributed across the basin contain abundant recycled Pedernal chert clasts that provide an important locally available source of this lithic raw material. LA-ICP-MS analysis of Pedernal chert collected from primary sources, Santa Fe Group gravels, and Pedernal chert artifacts from the basin revealed no significant chemical differences among these materials. Pedernal chert is most often associated with its primary source at Cerro Pedernal; however, geologic evidence reveals that recycled Pedernal chert clasts within Albuquerque Basin gravel deposits most likely originated from outcrops along the San Pedro–Sierra Nacimiento range. Size distributions among Pedernal chert gravels found within differing portions of the Albuquerque Basin present specific limitations on lithic reduction strategies. As such, regional settlement distributions and lithic assemblage variability reflect patterned variation in the use of these secondary deposits through time.

Continuity and change in the lithic industries of the Jurreru Valley, India, before and after the Toba eruption

Lithic assemblage variability is synthesized and discussed for seven open sites and one rockshelter from the Jurreru Valley in the Kurnool district of southern India. The sites span the last c.77,000 years and provide an invaluable record of cultural change spanning the Toba Super-eruption, 74 thousand years ago (ka), as well as the transition to the microlithic. Lithic evidence documents long-term continuities before and after the eruption that indicates the Toba eruption had a minimal impact on the underlying system of flake production in the valley. The analysis also indicates that many cores from above and below the Toba ash are technologically extremely similar to those from early modern human sites in sub-Saharan Africa, southeast Asia and Australia, suggesting modern humans may have entered India before the Toba eruption as part of an early eastward dispersal from Africa.

Generalization, inference and the quantification of lithic reduction

Today studies of lithic technology almost invariably employ models of the reduction process, and often models of the extent of reduction that specimens and classes of tools have undergone. Debates about the explanation of lithic assemblage variability are based upon methods for inferring the nature and extent of reduction. In this paper, we construct a conceptual framework for evaluating the competing reduction indices for estimating the extent of flake retouching. With this framework we offer a new synthesis of reduction indices and the debates that have surrounded their use.

Transitions in the Early Upper Palaeolithic: An Examination of Lithic Assemblages on the Musashino Upland, Tokyo, Japan

This article explains lithic assemblage transitions during the Early Upper Palaeolithic (EUP) on the Musashino Upland by quantitative comparisons of lithic raw materials, core reduction (blade technology), and formal tool production. The results suggest that changes in aspects of lithic assemblage variability could be explained by changes in raw material utilization, not developments (sophistication of tool-making skills) in blade technology and methods of formal tool production. The results also indicate the possibility that the changes in lithic raw material would have been affected by changes in residential mobility and the foraging territorial scale of EUP hunter-gatherers, as well as the changes in organic raw material utilization in whole technological organization in various environmental settings during the EUP. Beside them, the characteristics of the lithic assemblages in Period I as the initial EUP assemblages in this region are different from general characteristics of Upper Palaeolithic assemblages (blade technology, standardized and formal flaked tools) in Eurasia. The nature of lithic raw material utilization, especially flaked tool use, in Period I assemblages looks extremely expedient. Therefore, the characteristics of initial EUP assemblages in this region represent that diversity in lithic raw material utilization and technological organization was present during the EUP.

Neandertal Behavior at the Middle Palaeolithic Site of Abric Romaní, Capellades, Spain

This paper synthesizes the work carried out since 1983 at the Middle Palaeolithic site of Abric Romaní, Spain, reconstructing Neandertal behavioral and settlement patterns. The sedimentary features of this site give a high resolution of prehistoric occupational events. Large surface excavation (over 300 sq m) has been used to obtain a detailed picture of intrasite settlement patterns. The reconstruction of activities and their spatial and temporal organization is a key issue in the debate concerning the cultural capabilities of Neandertals versus anatomically modern human beings, and our interpretation integrates geoarchaeology, lithic technology, taphonomy, zooarchaeology, and anthropology. In this way, we explain the degree of diversity within a single Neandertal archaeological site, especially regarding lithic assemblage variability, faunal processing activities, and settlement patterns.

Production and Transport of Blanks and Tools at the French Middle Paleolithic Site of Combe-Capelle Bas

Recent studies of Middle Paleolithic lithic assemblages have focused on questions of interest to lithic analysts everywhere, including the effect of raw material availability, occupation span, and tool maintenance on assemblage characteristics. In this paper, we add to the growing database on Middle Paleolithic assemblages using material recently excavated at Combe-Capelle Bas in the Dordogne region of southern France. The site provides a unique opportunity for addressing questions concerning lithic assemblage variability because it is located on a high quality flint source. We present data on core reduction, blank selection, raw material procurement, and lithic transport that provide information on lithic use pertinent for both Old World and New World archaeologists. Our data show that raw material availability and group mobility influenced blank selection, production, and transport at Combe-Capelle.

Lithic procurement and technological organization in the stone age of West Finnmark, North Norway

The interpretation of north Norwegian Stone Age lithic assemblage variability requires consideration of both functional and socioideological concerns. Functionally, lithic procurement may be structured by mobility patterns and least‐effort/optimizing procurement logics. But lithics may also be viewed as resources employed in social strategies. The lithic materials available in West Finnmark are outlined and archaeological data relevant to the organization of lithic technology during the Late Stone Age and Early Metal Periods are presented. The implications of these data for a ‘political‐semiotic’ model of Late Stone Age coast‐interior social relations are discussed.

Probing the Sources of Lithic Assemblage Variability: A Regional Case Study near the Homolovi Ruins, Arizona

Problems with the interpretation of regional lithic assemblage variability are briefly discussed. Several methods are introduced for controlling the sources of variation that influence the composition of lithic assemblages. The utility of these methods is illustrated with a statistical analysis of lithic artifact collections from thirteen sites near the Homolovi Ruins Group north of Winslow, Arizona. Results indicate strong technological differences between four site classes that cannot be attributed to site type, location, or time exclusively. Some arguments based on considerations of regional settlement and organization are proposed to account for the technological patterning that pertains to each site class. The Homolovi study shows that a comprehensive understanding of interassemblage variability necessitates that multiple lines of evidence be developed to ensure all potential sources of variability have been thoroughly examined.

Back to the drawing board: A simplified approach to assemblage variability in the Early Palaeolithic

Abstract The archaeological record of the Early Palaeolithic consists mainly of lithic assemblages. Despite many years of intensive research effort, comparatively little is understood of the organization of the early hominid adaptations behind these artefacts. At least one fault seems to lie in some basic assumptions employed in the analysis of these assemblages, particularly in the application of formal tool typologies. An alternative approach is outlined, focussed on the technological variability of complete assemblages rather than just their shaped tool component. The study of broad technological dimensions provides a more useful method for studying lithic assemblage variability, while multivariate statistics, such as the Principal Factor Analysis, can be useful analytical tools at the level of pattern recognition.

The Role of Raw Materials in Lithic Assemblage Variability

(1980). The Role of Raw Materials in Lithic Assemblage Variability. Lithic Technology: Vol. 9, No. 3, pp. 68-72.

Stone Age Typology: Another Approach

Previous articleNext article No AccessIdeas for DiscussionStone Age Typology: Another ApproachD. Cahen and F. Van NotenD. Cahen Search for more articles by this author and F. Van Noten Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Current Anthropology Volume 12, Number 2Apr., 1971 Sponsored by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/201192 Views: 9Total views on this site Citations: 4Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1971 The Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological ResearchPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Isis Mesfin, Richard Oslisly, Hubert Forestier Technological analysis of the quartz industry of Maboué 5 – Layer 3 (Lopé National Park, Gabon): Implications for the Late Stone Age emergence in western Central Africa, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 39 (Oct 2021): 103130.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.103130James G. Enloe Refitting Bones: Negative Evidence, Site Structure and Social Organization, Lithic Technology 35, no.11 (Apr 2016): 63–71.https://doi.org/10.1080/01977261.2010.11721083Alan P. Sullivan Probing the Sources of Lithic Assemblage Variability: A Regional Case Study near the Homolovi Ruins, Arizona, North American Archaeologist 8, no.11 (Nov 2016): 41–71.https://doi.org/10.2190/GA4W-8077-8446-H389Alan P. Sullivan, Kenneth C. Rozen Debitage Analysis and Archaeological Interpretation, American Antiquity 50, no.44 (Jan 2017): 755–779.https://doi.org/10.2307/280165